Wise Words from a World Wanderer, Part 1 - I Perspire to Inspire

The End of 10 Months, The Beginning of a New Me...

Me in the beginning - colourless, hairless

After all this time that you, my faithful readers have been following me around on my adventures through Europe it's about time that I admit this: my apologies for the slight deception in my blog title. Although I did take an 11 month sabbatical from work, my time out of country has actually been 10 months - 303 days to be precise. Hopefully, this is neither earth-shattering nor credibility-eroding news (you know by now that my blog is not a means to massage my own vanity). Anyway, I believe that in all other aspects of my travel journalism, I have been straight as an arrow, blunt in honesty, sharp in wit, and forcefully thought provoking.

I don't know why you follow my blog, but I do know why I write: not to shine glory on myself as a travelling wunderkind and bask in your awe, adoration and jealousy (well, maybe just a bit). No, not that. I write to open your minds, to dispel stereotypes, to broadcast the true beauty and diversity of the world, to bring awareness to your conscience, to inspire and ultimately motivate you to change and improve yourself. And hopefully whatever little changes I create in you will ripple out and affect those around you and maybe, in the end, this world will be a better place.

I hope I have achieved these goals, or my blog was for naught.

One request I received was to write a blog about how to save money while travelling through Europe. I have decided not to blog about this because it is not one of the goals of my blog. However, I do ask that you contact me directly if you are looking for specific advice on this matter. The only thing I will write here is that the most important step is simply to start travelling. Once you do, you will quickly learn ways to save money and also learn what you are capable of doing in order to save.

Me in the middle 

Your travelling style may also change to focus on cheaper, more fulfilling activities. For me, the best memories of my trip were not of museums and churches, or beaches and parties. They were working on a farm, teaching English, meeting great people, learning and expanding my mind; they were times of challenging and inspiring myself, detaching from the real world and immersing in a dream world as just a guy with a backpack.

10 months was long enough for me to become detached from home and reinvent myself. Yet - not completely and utterly so. Occasionally the ominous deadline of June 2013 loomed over my travel planning, like a pinprick of light at the end of an immensely long hallway, barely discernible but clearly present, and growing larger by the day. It loomed heavily at times, enough to not feel completely free to go everywhere I wanted.

Some of you may think why the hell I spent my entire travels in just Europe, Turkey and Morocco. At times, I also thought this myself. But the fact of the matter is that even within 10 months of travelling around one of the tiniest smallest continents, I barely scratched the surface of Europe. There is so much natural and cultural diversity here, it could take a lifetime to see it all. And if I had but one regret, it's that I didn't spend long enough during every stop along the way.

Me by the end - colourful, hairier, wiser

Which leads me to my first life lesson learned...

My 10 Months In Europe Top 5's

Here are some of my top 5 lists for places visited or experiences during my travels.

I admit these rankings are far from perfect. I used a balanced approach to include personal opinion and to make unbiased recommendations for you, the viewer, to decide your next travel destination. Rankings were spread out geographically, in order to highlight as many different parts of Europe as possible, and sometimes underdogs were picked to bring attention to little known places.

That is why you will notice that my rankings do not include the most popular countries and cities in Europe, such as London, Paris, Rome, Amsterdam, etc. You already know about these places, thus, I preferred to highlight other lesser known great travel destinations.

Controversy dogged me in every category. In the end these rankings were painstaking to compile, and I flip flopped many times, eventually forced to exclude many places worthy of a ranking. Even now, I'm still not sure about the results. Nevertheless...

Over my 10 months of travels, in no particular order, here are my top 5 rankings for:

Countries - http://www.flickr.com/photos/11monthsandrew/sets/72157633764123537/

Cities - http://www.flickr.com/photos/11monthsandrew/sets/72157633764123531/

Beautiful Cities - http://www.flickr.com/photos/11monthsandrew/sets/72157633764123519/

Plazas - http://www.flickr.com/photos/11monthsandrew/sets/72157633764123505/

Structures - http://www.flickr.com/photos/11monthsandrew/sets/72157633764123515/

Nature - http://www.flickr.com/photos/11monthsandrew/sets/72157633764123491/

Experiences - http://www.flickr.com/photos/11monthsandrew/sets/72157633764123471/

Waiting for the End

I spent the final 3 days of my trip in London on a stopover to slowly wind down my trip. Like the weather, my mood was somber. Like the London fog, an air of sadness and emptiness was hanging over my head, clouding my thoughts.

To distract myself, I spent time in London with friends whom I had met abroad. But when I was alone in my friend's flat or walking along the south bank of the Thames, admiring Tower Bridge and Big Ben, long spells of vast silence would overcome me, and it felt like I was the only person in London. It was like being stuck in some parallel dimension between traveling and real life.


Over 10 months I became completely detached from real life, grown accustomed to spontaneity and adventure, lost all concept of time, and adopted the road as my new home. But soon I will be once again enslaved by routine, no longer able to wake up whenever I want, no longer living out of just a backpack, but tied down by my condo, car and material goods. I wasn't sure if I was ready for it yet.

At times my trip felt like a movie, and now that the movie is over, I was the only one sitting in the theatre after everyone left and went home. But I was afraid to go home to reality. Going home meant abandoning all the places I visited and friends I made, and memory wouldn't be enough to hold onto them.

One other thought haunted me. Coming home, I was afraid of how I would fit back into society. While on the outside I have not changed much, besides having longer, slightly more grey hair, and more wrinkles (wisdom lines as I call them), on the inside I have changed immeasurably. My previously outlying views on philosophy and society have become stretched further from my travel experiences. While family and friends will welcome my return with open arms, I am afraid I will feel like an outsider.

At 4 pm on May 21, I finally landed back on Canadian soil and my trip officially ended. I am still in Montreal, so still not quite home yet, but everything feels familiar, and I'm starting to feel positive again. Time will tell how I fit back into the real world, but in the meantime I have the comfort of great memories from 303 days of the most amazing trip of my life and the knowledge that there is a beautiful inspiring world out there, ready and waiting for me to explore it.

From Russia With... A Fresh Perspective

Often times during my second visit to Russia I got the feeling that I was conducting my own cultural anthropological experiment. The same way famous anthropologists wandered into primeval forests and lived with native tribes in order to understand them, I felt like a pioneer, wandering into a country so vast and significant yet such a mystery, at least among my peers back home, and on a mission to find out the truth about its people.

Here are some of my experiences and anecdotes about Russia with the intention, hopefully, of dispelling certain stereotypes or foster understanding of its people and culture.

Kremlin - the palace of the central government of Russia

Moscow itself is a unique metropolis due to its geopolitical and economic status in Russia and relations with nearby countries. It has a deep history. Today it teems with culture. It is one of the most expensive cities in the world, yet it attracts people from all walks of life from poor illegal immigrants (including prehistoric looking Asians from the -stan countries) to multi-billionaires like Roman Abramovich. Aside from my sidebar to St. Petersburg, I have spent my time wholly in Moscow, wandering and getting to know the city, learning Russian, and meeting people for language and culture exchange.

One stereotype Russians are aware they have, and that they jokingly questioned me about, is that they are serious people. The Russians I met were ashamed to admit that the majority of them never smile on the Metro, and that shopkeepers are brutal and straightforward, and don't understand the concept of customer service.

Well, I think the former complaint can be excused, after all it's an urban big city phenomenon. I feel that people are generally less friendly (and in more of a hurry) the bigger the city, based on my experiences throughout Europe and even in Canada. And Moscow is the biggest city I have ever visited, with estimates of its population between 12 and 19 million. So it is no surprise that people are less friendly here. In addition, I was told people are friendlier in the countryside of Russia.

One super friendly Russian - my Couchsurfing friend Vitalak

Pretending I can play guitar with Vitalak's replica of Flea's guitar from Red Hot Chili Peppers

While most of my Russian friends are not heavy drinkers, Russians are generally known as such. While I didn't notice much heavy drinking, quite often, I've seen people with a beer in their hand while walking down the street, sitting on benches in parks, in the Metro and on the bus. It's a curious phenomenon to witness, as someone from a country where drinking in public is illegal (it is in Russia too, but never enforced). At least it seems that public drinking is done responsibly and respectabley.

Like friendliness level, alcohol consumption increases in the rural areas. I've been told Russians don't just drink vodka either; they drink anything and everything. It's just that vodka is the most common and cheapest liquor available. Apparently poor airport workers in Siberia even know of a way to separate alcohol from antifreeze...

Lenin's Tomb in Red Square - he is still a hero amongst older Russians; not as much amongst the younger

Corruption is still a problem here in Russia. And it starts at the very top. Its current president, Putin, has secured a stronghold on the presidency through less than integral means. And anyone who crosses Putin will likely be punished, whether it's nosy journalists, outspoken celebrities, or the general public. I may even be on his black list now for these comments.

There's a running joke made famous following a recent political election. The election was rigged, but exposed itself on TV when a voting poll mistakenly totaled 146%. Now whenever a Russian is quite certain of something, they sometimes say they are 146% sure.

Screenshot from the rigged election. Total voting = 146,47%

This corruption trickles down to street level and can be observed in police enforcement. Cops can stop you anywhere without reason, slap you with a ghost fine, then hint at a bribe in exchange for your freedom. I was randomly asked for my passport by a cop at a Metro station. But did I really look like a suspicious character in my bright orange jacket and a bright multicoloured toque?

On the bright side, when cops aren't out for your money, they are pretty slack about the laws. People can drink just about anywhere, and cars can virtually do whatever they want on the road in Russia. My driver to St. Petersburg stopped on the highway shoulder after missing an offramp and backed all the way up to catch it. My favourite road scene is seeing cars towed by other cars, tied by means of a simple rope, to avoid hiring tow trucks.

Posing near the Kremlin on my last full day in Moscow

This unique twist of freedom, among other things, is what makes Russia a fascinating and beautiful country. It's the only place where I've seen local food markets selling vegetables past its prime at discount rates, preventing waste. The general disregard of rules allows the Russian version of Facebook, vKontakte, to stream music, outright ignoring copyright laws. Besides this, Russia is amazingly diverse, with tens or hundreds of small culturally unique tribes or "republics" living in mountain regions of the south, and up in the frozen north. It's moving up the world stage, set to host Sochi Winter Olympics and, soon after, the World Cup. If they don't remove barriers to obtaining tourist Visas by then, if you are willing to endure the complications of getting the Visa, I recommend going to check out this country which is far down most peoples' travel lists.

I think the general North American view of Russians is confined to a few stereotypes, which are not so flattering. I was eager to play journalist, to dispel these negative stereotypes, or at the very least uncover the cause of them. After all, we are all humans that have simply grown up in different environments and become accustomed to them.

Another one of my many awesome Couchsurfers in Moscow - thanks Philip and Yulia!

Russia's roughness around the edges is part of its slow and sometimes painful smoothing out process from a long, embattled 20th century of political oppression and war. People haven't forgotten the Soviet Times, which shaped who they are today. In fact I often heard sentences beginning with "In Soviet Russia..." However, generation by generation, the bitterness and pessimism from the past is fading from memory. The people are sometimes harsh, but at least they are honest and unabashed, and definitely very interesting to talk to.

Russia has grown on me the more time I have spent here, especially Moscow and the many great people I have met here. I would love to come back to spend more time and visit other cities, and even experience the wildnerness of Siberia. But for now, it's mission accomplished...

I'm coming back to Canada!

Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/11monthsandrew/sets/72157633532243018/

Bonus picture for fans of Master & Margarita! - Patriarch's Pond

Last Stop - St. Petersburg

Ladies and gentleman, it's been nearly 10 months since the last time I set foot in Canada. Since then I've visited many cities and been to many attractions. You have followed me along my course, become jaded with me, maybe even became bored of the same old pictures of architecture and cityscapes that I became bored of in person.

Church of Our Savior stands down one of the canals

As glamorous as it is to travel, it all becomes too much at some point. And yet you just can't stop while you're ahead. This is the problem I faced upon visiting St. Petersburg, the final "tourist" destination of my travels: could I enjoy it without getting bored?

St. Petersburg is rather unique. Founded by Peter the Great just over 300 years ago, it is pretty young by European standards. Yet it flourished and developed, and today is one of the biggest cities in Europe at over 5 million, and a centre of culture and arts. The city is adorned with lovely canals and, as per usual, impressive palaces, cathedrals and monuments.

St. Petersburg - 670 km!

Surprisingly, transportation between Moscow and St. Petersburg is very expensive and with few alternatives. So I resorted to a method I hadn't used in months - hitchhiking. Fortunately, I started early, because after a disastrous first 5 hours, in which 3 cars and 1 bus took me barely 100 km, I was finally saved by a kind man named Dennis, who took me the rest of the 600 km in about 7 hours. Long day!

The day after I arrived, St. Petersburg was alive and the streets were buzzing at a feverish pitch. It was May 9, Victory Day of the Great Patriotic War. Now without descending into a full blown history lesson, you should at least know that this war is probably known to you as World War II. However, ex-Soviet countries call it the Great Patriotic War, and it only encompasses Russian involvement. Thus, the start of GPW was the day Germany invaded Russia in 1941, and the final date was when Russia captured Berlin on May 9, 1945, NOT the day Japan surrendered after the dropping of the atomic bomb.

May 9 - Victory Day Parade

Anyway, May 9 was a good day to be out on the streets in Moscow, St. Petersburg, or any major city in Russia. There was a Victory Parade in the afternoon, then in the evening there were also fireworks, and many of the main streets were closed down so that pedestrians filled the streets, chanting and singing with pride.

Fireworks seen from a packed bridge

Besides the festivities, I managed to see two pretty memorable museums. One local treasure was the miniature museum, which illustrated Russia in one massive papier-mache incredibly detailed landscape brought to life with miniature buildings and people. It even had moving trains and cars, and a real time traffic control system for these mini vehicles, operated by staff behind a window. As an engineer, wow!

The other museum I saw was the Hermitage, the second largest museum in the world. Quite resembling the Louvre, the interior is decorated like the best palaces in Europe, with grand hallways covered with frescoes, statues, gold trim and finely ornamented. The museum's collection houses millions of items, mostly paintings and artifacts of European origin. I braved over 2 hours in the rain lining up for this beast. And, well, it was worth it.

Standing in line for the Hermitage - lady in umbrella says it all

As a jaded tourist, I couldn't be bothered to pay the extra 200 rubles, or about 5 euros, for the right to take photos. Nor could I bother to search out any featured paintings or statues in the massive complex. Thus, I discarded the map and wandered aimlessly, like a kid in a neverending candy shop.

In similar fashion, the rest of my time in St. Petersburg was spent walking. I've learned that walking is the best way to get to know a city. That and avoid spending money on attractions that are ultimately forgettable. Curiously, clamoring around St. Petersburg's streets, I felt like Raskolnikoff, the main character in Dostoevsky's thrilling Crime and Punishment, which I am not so coincidentally currently reading.

Neva River, which adds to the beauty of St. Petersburg

Despite all the goodies mentioned above, my time in St. Petersburg was ambivalent. In my jaded state, I probably enjoyed this city more like a bored fool than a wide eyed camera toting tourist. Besides, other external matters played a part in my moodiness, such as bad weather and painful feet.

But what right do I have to complain? None, really. I owe nothing except gratitude for being a tourist for so long. With this in mind, I can rightfully conclude that St. Petersburg is a pretty great city and one highly recommended by myself.

As I write this, I am back in Moscow living out my days as a free man, back in less than 2 weeks. And though I will be glad to come home, a part of me will wish I was still living out of a suitcase, checking famous cities and big museums off my bucket list.

Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/11monthsandrew/sets/72157633476998440/

Contemplative walk along the Neva River, last night of St. Petersburg

Off To Where the Sun Sets on Europe

Check one off the bucket list.

Having seen the majority of mainland Western Europe, I felt reluctantly obligated to see Portugal. Given a lucky window of opportunity, waiting two weeks for my Visa to Russia to process while in Madrid, instead of waiting around, I packed my bags once again and headed west.

Apparently you can buy love in Lisboa

But I did much more than just "knock Portugal off the list." In fact, I had a really great time there!

Portugal gets as little attention as central and eastern Europe but after visiting it I see why it is a rising star of tourism in Europe. Lisboa (Lisbon), the capital city, is a city that has it all, tied up in a neat little package. It has all the traits of a historical European city, castle on a hill overlooking a romantic old city by the water, plus it also offers many modern attractions and provides a good base for day trips to the countryside.

Mirador (lookout) of Lisboa

While I am not a shopper, I love visiting markets to see what the locals have to offer. In Lisboa, I was ready to throw my wallet at everything I saw. The second-hand markets, set up in first rate outdoor spaces in the city, sold absolutely anything and everything the slightest bit useful or desirable, from old plastic toys to film cameras and rusting silverware. If you are looking for new things, there are markets thriving with creative energy for the arts and crafts from jewellery and household decorations down to keychains and postcards. In fact, the Iberian Peninsula which includes Spain showcases the best arts and crafts in Europe. I managed to fish a few dollars out to buy my first magnets of the trip.

From Lisboa, I made a few day trips. My first day trip was to Cascais, a little oceanside town full of villas and yachts, to join a Couchsurfing photowalk event, and to get my first glimpse of the Atlantic Ocean. My second day trip was to picturesque Sintra, complete with a dreamy Disney-like castle on a hill, and a view of the westernmost point of mainland Europe.

Castle at Sintra

I also had some of the best seafood of my trip in a little hideaway restaurant that indicated, through no indications at all, that it was a local joint. Eating here reminded me that I always had the best dining experiences by straying off the main street and finding places that didn't want to be found.

From there it was on to sleepy Lagos on the southern coast of Portugal. A day trip took me to Sagres and slightly beyond, to the southwestern most point of mainland Europe where mighty waves crashed into mightier cliffs.

Checking out the cliffs and beaches in Lagos

Back in Lagos, I went on a kayaking tour along its less mighty yet wonderfully abstract cliffs, its red and white hues of rock curving mysteriously, and unveiling pristine beaches in its bosom. The kayak tour stopped at one of the beaches for a rest. While most people were deterred from the water, still dreadfully cold and slow to warm up, it did not stop a Canadian like me from going for a swim! The irony here is that there were other Canadians on the tour who did not even consider dipping a toe in the water.

On my final day in Lagos, one where the sun shone down soothing warmth and with not a cloud in the sky, I descended into a rocky nook on Batatas Beach all to myself, and did some yoga. My mind cleared... bliss, happiness... and nothing needs more to be said about Lagos!

Flickr Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/11monthsandrew/sets/72157633271763021/

Also photos from Sevilla: http://www.flickr.com/photos/11monthsandrew/sets/72157633276142490/

Plaza De Espana, Sevilla

Morocco - A Diamond in the Rough

March 21 was a special day. It was my birthday, it was the day I flew into Madrid to join my friends to go to Morocco, and it also marked nearly 8 months of travelling around Europe.

Now, some of you may say, and fairly so, that my travels have been rather safe. Turkey had eastern flair, but it meets the modernity and security of the west, and Moscow, Russia, though distant and seems mysterious and foreign, has a similar infrastructure, familiar to the cold climate cities of Canada.

The Atlas Mountains - welcome to the desert

Morocco was my first venture into a truly untamed land, one that operates with a minimal emphasis on rules. This Diamond in the Rough has an exotic appeal that makes you feel like you are walking in Disney's Aladdin. Morocco felt like a whole new world... its spectrum of unbelievable-ridiculous to miraculous-beautiful stretches as far as the bright white moon rising in the desert.

A desert ghost, revealed only by moonlight 

Here cars share the road with donkeys hauling carts, people are super friendly, and shopkeepers haggle persistently and persuade like CEOs. The streets of the medinas, the old walled city centres, showcase a dazzling array of wares that glitter from greens to reds to yellows. The surprisingly diverse landscape is blanketed with as many impressive colours - more green than you think.

Stand aside when a donkey is coming through! 

Moroccan food is defined by lots of spices, and is headlined by Berber whiskey, couscous and tajines, which consist of cone shaped pottery cooked by fire. We ate a lot of couscous and tajines and, while it was very good, we started getting sick of it after awhile. It should be noted that Berber Whiskey is just mint tea. You can't find any alcohol within the bustling medinas. Anyhow.. let's get to the story!

Chefchaouen, the Blue City

I travelled with my friends Sam & Claire, English teachers in Madrid, who I met at La Tomatina at the end of last August, which now seems like an eternity ago. We took a flight into Tangier and immediately hopped on a taxi to our first destination, Chefchaouen, nicknamed the Blue City. It's no wonder, with its memorable baby blue walls and doors, papier-mached on a backdrop of a lush green valley while chocolate brown mountains loom above.

This girl started playing with my harmonica 

We instantly received the "friendliness" of the people - colourful-hoodie-wearing Berber shopkeepers waving you into their showrooms, restaurateurs telling you that you're hungry, and even people approaching you and, in a low whisper, offering hash, the best of which originates in the local region surrounding Chefchaouen. We preferred the friendliness of local children. Oh, and the cats too, which there are plenty of wandering the narrow pathways.

"If I fitz I sitz" - Cat in the Basket 

Fez was the most intense experience of possibly all my travels. The city of Fez has the largest medina of any Arab city in the world. Thus, tourists are actually recommended to hire guides to navigate in the medina's thousands of narrow, zigzagging streets. Oh, and also not to wander around at night. This is exactly what we decided to do after we arrived in the evening from Chefchaouen.

Once we got off the main street and entered the medina's maze, we got tailed by two different guys, acting friendly at first. However, several minutes later, when we tried to lose them, they turned sour on us. They began saying very mean things and wouldn't leave us alone. We eventually found our way back to the main street where they finally stopped following and hurling insults at us. Nevertheless, we were traumatized, and I had never been in this state of fear and anxiety at any point in my trip.

Wandering Fez with our favourite guide Rashid! 

Fortunately a new brilliant day followed, and the memory of last night was completely wiped out following our meeting with Rashid. Once again, we were befriended by a local but, while I was still wary, Sam had a good instinct about Rashid and so we let him guide us. Rashid turned out to be an amazing guide and good company too.

Claire, Sam and I trying on Moroccan clothing in Coca, Rashid's sister's shop 

We followed Rashid into donkey sheds and leather workshops including the large tannery. He introduced us to his sister Coca (pronounced kooka) who worked at the family clothing shop, and they even let us try on traditional Moroccan clothing, which is really beautiful. During the entire tour Rashid answered questions about Moroccan life. To top it off, he took us to the high point where we could view the medina in all its glory, brown mud-brick buildings waving up and down with the valley floor, standing like a forest among over 9000 little streets.

Donkey overlooking his medina domain 

Next we went for the overnight Sahara desert 2-day 1-night excursion. While we didn't quite make it into the heart of the desert, it still was an amazing experience from start to finish. The 8-hour drive took us through stunning landscapes that slowly transformed from vibrant greens to lifeless brown and gray rock, to sand. We rode camels into the sunset, getting off at our tent campsite in a beige plain surrounded by mini sand dunes, like waves cresting near the beach.

I got ass-burn from riding camels for 2 hours 

Enter Mohamed, one cool cat. His eyes shone of eternal wisdom (even though he didn't look that old) and his personality crackled through his big smile. Mohamed and his fellow Berbers served us a tajine chicken dinner, then entertained us "Justin Berber" style with singing and drums round the fire under a full moon night. Mohamed invited me to stay longer, maybe live like a Berber, nomads still wandering the desert, one earthly vestige that human civilization has yet to tame. I'm not sure whether his invitation was serious, but I would definitely consider it, especially if I could take care of camels, very charming creatures with really funny faces.

Mohamed is the richest man I know, not in materials, but in happiness, peace, and love of his desert home 

Our last stop was Marrakech, and possibly the best city of our visit. It's one of the bigger cities in the nation of up to 40 million people, and has something for everyone. The shopkeepers here were generally very friendly and relaxed, and I talked to many locals with no worries. I took pictures of some of them and even promised to print out their picture and mail it to them, since they probably don't own cameras or have an e-mail address.

A man surveys the street he's worked on as a shop seller for decades 

Marrakech's main square Jemaa El Fna, was a riot - the very heart of Morocco. This open space is never really "open" as its void is constantly streaming with noise and dust kicked up from taxis, scooters and donkeys, weaving their way carelessly around pedestrians and entertainers such as snake charmers and buskers, further cramped in by food stalls, cafe tables and shop wares.

Cheap and tasty eats outside in Jemaa El Fna. Me in my new Berber hoodie 

We all decided to splurge a little on our final stop, so we went souvenir shopping. I decided to emulate my desert hero Mohamed and bought a Berber hoodie, virtually the exact same as his! I still have to figure out how to bring it home with me, since my luggage is out of space.

Goodbye Morocco!

Sunset on Morocco

While I deviated from my ethics of not travelling by plane, flying from Berlin to Madrid to join Sam and Claire, then flying to and back from Morocco was totally worth it. Before this my trip had been missing something, it was too safe and, thus, boring. Morocco gave it that vibrant feeling of life uncorked, the best and the worst surrounding you so that unpredictability shrouds every turn around a street corner, but no matter what happens, it's new, a little scary, and very exciting.

I can go home now and say I saw it all on my travels. (caution: hyperbole)

Flickr Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/11monthsandrew/sets/72157633156426750/

Wacky turbans